Do you get meltdowns?

What do you do to manage them?

Tudorose, what do you mean? I am fairly new here, do you have Autism?

I have ADHD and I'm Aspergierish which results in trouble communicating under stress coz I can't think. Instead of having a panic attack my brain switches off which sounds OK but not when it happens at work or when I need to think.

Ok, now do you know what the triggers to the shut downs are?

I get them constantly, mostly when having to talk to someone. Every time someone says something to me my brain either shuts down completely, or I say something retarded that I didn't want to say. It really sucks at job interviews when the person is staring at you waiting for your response but you're just sitting there unable to say anything. I have forgotten how old I am, my birthdate, all kinds of other stuff nobody should ever forget. It makes it very difficult to function in daily life.

Originally posted by DevilHanzo
I get them constantly, mostly when having to talk to someone. Every time someone says something to me my brain either shuts down completely, or I say something retarded that I didn't want to say. It really sucks at job interviews when the person is staring at you waiting for your response but you're just sitting there unable to say anything. I have forgotten how old I am, my birthdate, all kinds of other stuff nobody should ever forget. It makes it very difficult to function in daily life.

Thankyou! I'm glaf that there's someone out there that can understand what I mean. It's really difficult to explain. I find that if I get stressed I can't put a sentence together or understand anything that anyone says to me. I get really confused and exhausted and it's too hard to reach out for help coz it's too hard to communicate.

Thankyou! I'm glad that there's someone out there that can understand what I mean. It's really difficult to explain. I find that if I get stressed I can't put a sentence together or understand anything that anyone says to me. I get really confused and exhausted and it's too hard to reach out for help coz it's too hard to communicate.
:sad:
i know what you mean, too...
most of the time i get so frustrated with this, that i just up and leave (if i'm on the phone when i find myself feeling this way, i just hang up)...
:(
of course, this behavior makes me about three years old in the eyes of other people, and so this is something which i'm *really* working *hard* on quitting, but it's *very* hard - as i've been doing this for most of my life, it's really a *hard* habit to break...

i've been on concerta for almost 12 weeks now, and i find that this medication helps me with my "escapism" - for the first time in my life i'm now actually able to *choose* how i'm going to react/act!
i don't know what's up with that, but for some strange reason concerta seems to have made me something i *NEVER* thought i'd be: the *PROUD* owner of a fuse!
it's still a very *short* fuse, but i'm working on it!
:D

I think I undewrstand what he is talking about. I do something very sililar. I don't know if this is what y6ou experience, but I will share it here and you can decide for yourself.

The ADDers call it "checking out" or "blinking out". Basically, in the middle of a conversation your mind goes somewhere else for a bit, then comes back. Stress makes it worse for me.

Usually it happens infrequently. What I do when it happens, is to say "excuse me, I lost my train of thought... where was I?" My friends and co-workers know me and they help me out there.

Yes, it is a little embarrasing, but it beats standing there sheepish and all locked up because I don't know what to say....and is less embarassing.

If I am in overload, it happens more often and with greater strength.

I have to manage my sensory load and stress levels at all times. I treat it as though all of my senses are involved even though I am having problems with one sense at the time.

I have learned that one sense will dominate all the others when I am overloaded, but my real issues is that all of my senses are not being "filtered" correctly.

All this stuff means that I wear comfortable clothes, seek out places that are quiet, dimly lit, cool and comfy.

I also try to avoid situations that lead me into locations that are a combination of brightly lit, visually "busy", and has a lot of noise at the same time.

In general , if I can not mitigate it, I avoid it, if I can not do those things I have to totlerate it.

Usually I can tolerate most "bad" sensory situations for a while before I overload, so I have learned to toe-dip into "toxic" sensory situations when I have to. In that case, I need to eventually withdraw to a "safe' place where I can recover.

Me :D

Since my diagnosis and recognizing other ADDers, I changed my opinion about "blinking out". As Speedo said, I've done it all of my life and learned to accept it.

I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by a doctor who has ADHD and Tourette Syndrome. He is asked to speak all over North America. Sitting in the audience and watching him "blink out" during the lecture, I felt an instant connection with this successful, articulate, knowledgeable man.

After the lecture, my non-ADHD friend and I were hurrying to the car and I asked her who the doctor reminded her of. She dismissed me with an abrubt, "You, of course!", and went on talking about how much she enjoyed the clearest explanation of the brain she had ever heard. My friend recognized the speech, articulation, processing, etc. differences that the speaker and I shared.

I had a prof who had touretts. He never blinked out, but he did have a vocal tic that occured every 3 minutes or so. He was brilliant, but rather harsh at times.

I had three, three-hour lectures with him every week. That came out to hearing him say "doh" about 180 tmes a week. :)

I had him for 5 courses and that came out to a total of 900 times. :eek:

Me :D

I really wonder if this kind of "blinking out" is a trait of autism or moreso of ADHD ?

For me it is usually just a second or two. It is not like being distracted.. it is more like going "offline" for a moment. I am simply not there. I draw a blank. In the process of that happening I have done things like forget names, forget my phone number... you name it.. I have forgotten it. :faint:

I also dayfream. I check out and think about something else deeply and for a long time ... I am aware of my surroundings, but only vaguely. A friend once commented that he wished he could do it. LOL I wish I knew why and how I did it.... :eek:

I have done these things as long as I can remember. I can remember doing them in gradeschool.

I can also flip pages like a good ADDer.. I can jump around from one thing to another mentally during a conversation if I am really very ADDish at the time... But that is different than blinking out. My ADHD symptoms seem to be a recent addition, so I am a newb to that. My ADD symptoms are mostly controlled now, so about all I have to worry about is my sensory issues.

ME :D

Jumping around in conversations is something I tend to do a lot, and it drives the people around me nuts, but people apparently have learned, and so I don't get the chance to jump subjects very often. As far as blinking out goes, it is a real hindrance if you would like to learn to play the piano. It is something I have fought for many years. Isn't that what would be called "brain freeze"?

What I understand to be a meltdown is a loss of control of one's emotions. What makes it different (at least in the case of autism) is that the person experiencing the meltdown doesn't monitor anyone to see if they are affecting their behavior. In a typical tantrum, the person throwing it would check to see if it was having the desired effect.

Dave....

As far as "jumping around" in a conversation goes , I do it a lot. Skipping from one subject to another is an ADD trait.

I don't truly meltdown.
The closest thing I ever experience to that is if I let my sensory load get out of hand. I will become so overwhelmed that I really just stop responding. I don't get angry or any of that, I just start going offline. It is just that I reach a point where I am so exhausted that I stop resonding. I still feel overwhelmed tho. Up to that point, I can get pretty stressed and would describe myself as "agitated" and at that point any "surprises" are particularly unpleasant.

Me :D

What I understand to be a meltdown is a loss of control of one's emotions. What makes it different (at least in the case of autism) is that the person experiencing the meltdown doesn't monitor anyone to see if they are affecting their behavior. In a typical tantrum, the person throwing it would check to see if it was having the desired effect.

Dave....
I agree.
I have melt downs often (partly because of ignorance from other people),caused by many things,like someone changing my room contents around/cleaning it up-especially without me knowing,sensory overload etc.
I get completely out of control,and violent towards myself and anything else,I hit my mum and broke the bathroom door off it's hinges in a melt down last week when she cleaned up my room,I am unable to understand/filter emotions and that goes to the extreme when I have a melt down,it cripples me and makes me oblivious to what I am doing,I hate them.

I think the bedroom reordering one/cleaning isn't rare at least, as i've read comments on other forums about it before.

I posted above about my son who is almost 7 .. this is what I *think* he is doing.. in the classroom!!!! thoug it does occur at home just more at school.

He lashes out at other children and staff, throws things, jumps and climbs on furniture in dangerous places.. he was climbing ON the pc's last week.

If they have a supply teacher, move the desks move to a new topic he is off on one. Free play is almost out of the question he cannot decide what or with whom to play so he goes off on a hissy fit. He jumbles words and forgets what he is saying and gets into incredible rages.

Sounds VERY familiar to me as a mum.

He went completely wild for 2 months earlier this year because we moved house.. very worrying for when he is older and bigger and stronger!

xx

I have a friend who is an aspie and that person has been completely ticked off with the fact that the family sold the house and moved to a bigger place with more room. The grumbling and temper tantrums about the move has been ongoing for *months* even though it resulted in a bigger bedroom with a private bathroom and central air conditioning.

ME :D

Well you see.. not having a Dx of anythin g untoward with my son.. we 'moved house' whilst they were at school.. and we never told the children we were moving we brought them ome to the new house and never set foot in the old one again.. BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG mistake!!!!

He has started to calm back down agaqin at home but at school and other social settings he is horrific.. including the walks to and from school.

Maybe we should hire a time machine and do it differently just for him. Bizarrely my ADD son was fine.. mostly.

I AM phoning for GP appointment today.. I have to take my oldest son with suspected glandular fever so I'm going to beat for a referral for the AS Dx.

Yet another ride on the roller coaster!

xx

Hang in there tweedle! Let us know how it works out.

Me :D

Well you see.. not having a Dx of anythin g untoward with my son.. we 'moved house' whilst they were at school.. and we never told the children we were moving we brought them ome to the new house and never set foot in the old one again.. BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG mistake!!!!

He has started to calm back down agaqin at home but at school and other social settings he is horrific.. including the walks to and from school.

Maybe we should hire a time machine and do it differently just for him. Bizarrely my ADD son was fine.. mostly.

I AM phoning for GP appointment today.. I have to take my oldest son with suspected glandular fever so I'm going to beat for a referral for the AS Dx.

Yet another ride on the roller coaster!

xx